Thoughts on DQS, theory, etc.
Posted By: another MQ MT on 2005-08-16
In Reply to: theory - sm
From what I've read here in last month about MQ/DQS, I would agree with your theory in general (MTs from different platforms may experience decrease/increases in production, depending).
I worked on INET previously and have experienced significant decrease in production/pay with (MQ)DQS. Some others who posted here have had same experience going from INET to DQS. I have yet to hear from colleagues or read posts here where ANY INET MT has experienced anything BUT decrease in production. I keep hoping, but not a single post.
Regarding another post in this thread, I too received comments (from not only several tech people but also my supervisor) that implied I was the only one experiencing a decrease in pay. That is just nuts. Thanks to all of you who have the courage to post here and be real. I think when we just talk about what we experience here, it is much more positive than some of the company bashing - or inter-MT bashing that seems to go on here. A lot of us are experiencing the same thing with MQ and need reassurance we are not alone, not crazy to think we are getting less pay when WE ARE - until it gets better or we leave the company... for those MQers who are doing great, I am pleased, and believe you me, I wish I was in your shoes!
Regarding other MQ programs being padded to account for significant decrease in pay on DQS - at least regarding INET, I can't really speak to that (no proof for or against). I made a very decent living (though no raise to speak of for almost 8 years) previously averaging from $18 to $25 an hour. I'm nowhere near that now. I'm amazed to read that MTs think that averaging $13.50 an hour is great... and I too wonder if maybe they are newer to the field (I'm at 20+ years).
What I do know - something is not right with MQ and with this industry in general. I don't have the answers, but sure wish I did. Looking around at other companies sure is not providing an immediate answer - in fact, it makes me realize that I will actually make LESS money if I jump ship... Choices: less money with another company I don't know, or pay cuts from the "new improved " platform even transcribing accounts I have been on for years - how screwy is that!?
In the meantime, keeping my eyes and ears open, trying to stay on a positive yet realistic note!
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the big bang theory and Darwin's theory of evolution are also extensively documented but
theory
The headers and footers being taken out, yes, that can add up and make a difference, but since I don't have to enter the headers anymore myself, I actually do better because I have more time for just typing. I came from MTShell and am more productive on DQS. I have been wondering if the people who have line count problems are just coming from other platforms or if any came from MTs like I did. There was something somewhere in those lawsuit papers about Medrite inflating the lines, so my theory is people struggling with lines on DQS came from a program that padded their lines (not due to any misuse on the MT's part). Maybe I'm way off here, but that's why it's a theory, not fact.
just a theory
I agree,, they didn't check any of my references because I asked the people whose names I gave. I started working before I even filled out any paperwork. I had worked for another company using their computer, it took 3 months for them to come pick it up after many, many calls.
Theory indeed!
I work for a major national and have the option of using my own PC. Trust me, they are making plenty of money on the computers they supply! Even if they lose a few, they are making big bucks at $50 month!
As for references, mine were checked! Do you work for a national? Have you ever? Have you as a seasoned MT been able to pass a national test? It sounds like you haven't. Makes me wonder what your problem is?! There are plenty of new grads who do it everyday.
There are plenty of seasoned MTs working for nationals, as well as many very good newbies! Some of you "seasoned" MTs need to remember where you came from!
Here's my theory
I think it was an accident that took on a life of its own.
Her mother was the typical stage mom, wanted her daughter to be perfect, and didn't tolerate otherwise. I think JonBenet did something that made her mother angry, probably just some typical little annoying thing that any 6-year-old would do like wetting the bed or being a little too rambunxious in some way since it was Christmas, and Mom got carried away with the physical discipline, lost control and JonBenet ended up dead (hit her a little too hard in the head probably).
Then since they were such "fine upstanding members of the community" Mom and Dad wanted to cover up what happened and staged the "tied up with a garotte and hands tied together" scene to divert attention to a fictitious home invader/child molester so their socialite friends wouldn't think they could be responsible for hitting and killing their own child.
I still think their son will spill the beans eventually because he was there, and since he was clearly always playing second fiddle he is probably growing up to be quite an angry young man who feels neglected and resents being told to lie about what really happened for all these years.
Just my take on it, but Mom did it, although not on purpose and I'm sure they would both love to have that night to live over again and not have gotten into this mess.
no, it was Cottage...theory? sm
please do tell! And any suggestions would also be welcomed! 
This is precisely my theory, as well!! sm
One other thing that intrigues me...Patsy died of ovarian cancer, right?
Consider the fact that OJ Simpson lawyer Robert Kardashian died of esophageal cancer, and OJ lawyer Johnnie Cochrane died of brain cancer. While I realize that cancer strikes and kills many thousands of people, I find it interesting that people whom I suspect are guilty of other crimes end up dying of cancers related to their crimes. A lawyer who vocally defended a murderer dies of throat cancer....a laywer who was the "brains" behind the defense of a murderer dies of brain cancer....a mother who killed her own child dies of cancer of the reproductive system. Maybe it sounds more like sicence ficiton than a plausible proof of guilt, it's just something that intrigues me.
Very interesting theory...
In theory, it's basically the same as the other
MSWord version; it just has all the bells and whistles.
I tried honey at first because the theory behind sm
the Hiburnation Diet made sense to me. Although I have lost weight, and more importantly inches, the great sleep is what keeps me using it. I just take 1 or 2 tablespoons straight off the spoon and within 20 minutes I'm nodding off. My dreams are so vibrant and detailed now. I really enjoy sleeping again :)
I don't use IT, I use Shorthand, but the theory would be the same....
I use one big glossary for my main full-time job. Most of my abbreviations are single words, or phrases that are common to pretty much all dictators (chf = congestive heart failure, for instance). I also have entries for all the various formatted paragraph headings, in all their permutations. And so forth. I also have some entries for phrases that some docs use all the time. The real trick is making up a system that works for you, for how you assign the abbreviations/keywords. There are threads on other boards where people share their own systems.
I also have one "moonlighting" local account. He's got a separate glossary, and the main reason for that is that I do his work on my home computer, and I do the full time work on a company computer. Most of the entries are the same between the two computers, other than the things like formatted paragraph headers that are specific to the account/platform. I try to keep them as uniform as I can because my memory is not getting any better as I get older, and the more that I can do on "autopilot," the easier it is to keep everything straight. (And it's faster.)
theory on why nationals are so awful
If you think about how much money they spend on computers and equipment, shipment, they need to make sure they are not just hiring any joe who does not know what they are doing and can walk away with a free computer. That explains the testing that goes on to get hired on with these companies.
Not only that, being so remote, having so many MTs, they have no time to check references, or to know whether or not you are seasoned or how much experience you might have. You could lie your way all the way into becoming an MT, they lose clients because of the lousy work from inexperienced MTs, lose money because of the thieves who just want a free pc.
We seasoned MTs get lost in the blizzard of this. They are just looking out for themselves, for good reason if you look at it from their perspective.
While all of what you said sounds good in theory...sm
and I used to agree withyou, in this real world of MT, we are just typing peons, that are almost disposable... not appreciated and expected to do nonproductive work, not complain, and sit w/o work many days... so in the real world, if we don't jump through the hoops, we just don't have the work, plain and simple as that.
In theory this is correct, but in reality all of us who are ICs - sm
and work for MTSOs or nationals know otherwise. I have negotiated for a higher rate when applying of course and have gotten it at 2 previous IC jobs. I never got more than that though. At my current IC job though I have asked 2 x and have gotten raises. My last raise (yes my 3rd) I did not solicit, though I was about to ask. I did not get as much as I wanted (only .005) but agreed to it and probably next Spring I will ask (and I am sure get) for another .01 (I make .09 now). I think demanding an increased rate does not go over well, and if you tell them you will only accept .12 or whatever, expect to be "let go". As for the OP, it is unfortunate her MTSO said no way. If I were her I'd be actively looking for a new IC job and get a better rate that way.
that sounds good in theory BUT -
As was already pointed out, it depends on the difficulty accounts, the skill level of the MTs, whether or not you are doing 100% listen, if you are required to send e-mails with corrections (as opposed to the MTs just looking at their reports later), etc. It all sounds easy until you consider these factors.
Gross Line theory
I once was told if you were going to charge gross lines, you should be basing your rate on a 12-point Courier font with 1-inch margins. I understand the reasoning for that, and it is a great theory, but how does it work in practice? I know some people do use this theory to calculate line rates as it has been discussed on this board, but what do you do if your doc doesn't use the 12-point Courier font?
Nice in theory, but most of us have to work a lot more than
Very few people are so fast that they can make a living at only 6-7 cpl within the confines of a 40-hr. week. It's often even hard to meet the minimum daily line requirement within an 8-hour day because of all the detective-work we have to do with names/addresses of doctors, brand-new medications not in the books yet, and poor-quality dictating. It's more common to work a 12-hour day and then have to write '8 hrs' on our timecards.
Here's my theory. We were taught to place nice.
Even if you hated the person and hated their ideas we were taught we needed to share and play nice. Well here on boards and in chat rooms, you don't have to play nice and we can vent and rant and not have to suck it in.
I believe it is healthier here on these boards than in real life where you need to smile in people's faces in the workplace, in the neighborhood or even in the family when you would rather tell them what you think at best and at the very worse give them a good old fashion A$$ kick and tell them to get out of your face with their BS..    
Here you don't need to be phoney baloney and you can tell people exactly how you feel w/o repercussions. And that's a good thing.
slinging insults supports her theory
you know. The OP made some plausible, even if offensive, statements. However, I am ashamed at your comment and even more offended by it.
Hmmm, interesting theory on Lisa. Maybe so, huh?
x
I have a theory about grammar, proper English going the way of
the dinosaur. I am beginning to think that with all the ESLs who cannot speak English, that everyone else has totally forgotten how to conjugate verbs, have no idea what sentence syntax means, understand the relationships of nouns to verbs, etc. I am wondering how long it will take before no one makes much sense and it really bothers me. I see paragraphs where truly, it is difficult to tell exactly what is being said, what relates to what. I long for the days when I had an ESL who wanted me to correct her, even to the point of completely reworking her sentences to sound better.
In theory approx. 750 lines, but depending - sm
on the speed of the dictator it could be more or less obviously. I have a dictator who will do a 13 minute report, I am lucky if it is 80 lines (same with her 18 min. reports), totally stinks.
thats all good in theory....calling the floor sm
getting the numbers, dialing into the system, etc. etc. In a perfect world! These docs are not going to do that.
MTSOs are hired to provide a service. They do whatever they have to do to provide that service. I have also had the experience you have had working in the hospital system where turnaround was never met by the MTSOs. MTSOs were hired because turnaround was never met by the hospital either.
Do you ever wonder that these problems with turnaround both on the hospital side and the MTSO side is one reason that outsourcing got started???? Please don't flame me for that statement but I guess if the MTSOs are not going to be able to keep up with turnaround then they have to do whatever they need to do to stay in business. I don't agree with it and I wish it were outlawed, but its just food for thought.
Calling in on the weekend and listening to a dictation may work in a smaller hospital, but I don't think its a very good solution for a huge major medical center, at least not for very long.
From what I see on this board it's ok to bash those of us who ARE flexible and make it work. But it is not "politically correct" for us to say anything about the folks who want to work for MTSOs and not facilities, but don't want to be very flexible in their working hours. Just an observation.
Yep. The "forced attrition" theory is starting to seem more and more plausible.
Though I just really suspect major "suits" cluelessness about how to keep this company's head above water, honestly.
Ah well, made me sick to think about helping to pay for all their Bahamas' vacations and BMWs all this time anyway. Hasta LA vista, babies.
here is my theory....... patsy knew him from when they lived in georgia. sm
i think together the two of them planned the plot to get money, i.e. the ransom note already said to have come from patsy's handwriting by one analysis and only referred to "Tom" throughout the note. thus, why he is saying it was acidental and it was only supposed to be a kidnapping and why he is only saying he was with her when she died.
Here's my thoughts....sm
While I feel empathy for her family wondering what happened and wanting closure, frankly I'm tired of hearing about the case on the news, and that we have tied up FBI and even the military resources to look for her. We have people that go missing in the US every day... and people visiting countries disappear - and you only hear about the ones who have families that are rich or well connected with the media.
In my town there's a college girl who has been missing for over a week and it finally made the newspaper in a small blurb today. This girl missed a flight to visit her family for a vacation and hasn't been seen or heard from since then, and her family says this isn't like her and that she was excited about the vacation. Are they getting the attention this chick in Aruba is getting? No.... because they're an average middle classed family.
Some thoughts on that...
I do know how you feel. There are a few things I've done to cut that type of sress down...
I'm not sure what your company is like, but for mine, we have a primary account, and many people also have secondaries (mine is so busy that I don't usually need back-up work, so I have one major account). It pulls from several clinics, but with a pool of about 20 or 30 dictators, after awhile, you get the hang of even the hardest ones. There are some dictators that are just really bad, and I struggle with. When I can't figure something out, rather than spending 10 hours searching and struggling, I use blanks. I give it a good faith effort, as best as I can, and then I move on. Since I usually clip along at a good pace and am pretty confident in 99% of the work I do, I don't let myself feel bad for sending something to an editor, if I truly don't know what it is. Of course, I do the research, but if I'm looking for something for more than a few minutes, it's been too long.
You may need to look for a different account/specialty or even a new company, if you think that is the problem. I know that, at one point, I ended up moving from a difficult but high-paying account to an account that paid less, but I was more comfortable with. I ended up making more with the lower-paying account, because I wasn't having to stop every 2 seconds, and I wasn't tearing my hair out, and ending up in tears at the end of the day. Of course, people should move up as they feel ready for that, but perhaps you need a workload that doesn't create so much extra work for you.
Those are just some thoughts, but you CAN do it. Be proactive in finding a situation that works for you. You are more of an asset to your job when you are comfortable and not stressing and struggling.
Hang in there! 
but here are my thoughts
If your son cried, the coach tried something with him. Why didn't anyone press charges or have the coach fired? You don't let pedophiles coach kids.
My thoughts
For obvious reasons, I hope it is not true. But it kind of makes sense. I was working on Monday the 5th and was transcribing work from the 2nd, when within an hour, the work was 100% gone! Perhaps they routed all the work from Amherst to Ohio and then offered them unbelievable incentives to get it done. Not sure if that is what they did or not. All I know is the work was gone awfully quick and it has yet to return.
My thoughts
Direct deposit is definitely the way to go! Never a worry when and if the mailman is coming today!
I second your thoughts
Aren't these people that CONSTANTLY complain so darn frustrating? I am right here with you that MQ is a good place to work. Well, better get back to work - LOTS OF WORK THIS MORNING - YIPPEEE!!!!!!
My thoughts exactly
Great minds think alike, and I agree with you 100%!!!!!
Well said!
My thoughts-LM
I would want to know what type of docs run the clinic - whether anesthesiologists, physiatrists, ortho, neurology, etc, as this will guide the typical direction of the dictation. Because pain med Rx writing is always under scrutiny, there will probably be a fair amount of repetition for every pt on medicolegal issues. Most, but not all, of my experience is with neuro/physiatry-based pain management. For both these, I found the doc more likely to do further workup, which leads to much longer and involved reports. In the middle would be those docs who do extensive review of the patient's history and only minimal further testing. The extreme other side of the coin are those, what I call, in/out pain clinics where the pt shows up every 30 days, re-signs their drug contract, has their BP checked and leaves with a new Rx. I would always expect the initial H/P to be extensive and the f/u notes relatively brief. Typically lots of phone call documentation and referral/followup letters or information. Anesthesiologists lean more toward a lot of injectable therapies, blocks, epidurals, etc., at least initially, putting more of an op bent on their practices.
As far as interesting, pain patients are very repetitive in their complaints and their needs. Typically, by the time a pt gets to a pain management practice, the cause of their pain has already been extensively worked up. There are true chronic pain sufferers and those who are drug-seeking only. Things do get interesting with the latter because they are very creative when it comes to trying to con or manipulate the docs. If I were in your shoes, my first question would be what speciality of docs run the clinic. As far as job security, it is way up there for legit practices. More often than not, the average family doc is not willing to prescribe pain meds beyond a certain amount of time/quantity and feel forced to refer the pt to a pain management practice in order to protect themselves from the medicolegal aspects of the business. Hope something here helps - best of luck to you.
My thoughts
I have worked for the same company for six years and my best friend also works for the same company but has different accounts. It seems that things seem to go in waves and becomes either feast or famine and seems to be this way for both of us at pretty much at the same time so I wonder if it is just kind of natural for things to go up and down. This time of year seems to slow down for me and I have come to think it is because of Christmas, seems maybe people aren't wanting to go to the doctor and have the bill due to Christmas coming up. I don't think there is some conspiracy or things are being shipped out of the country, I think it's just the natural flow of things, at least for myself and my accounts. After the new year things always pick back up for me and have for the last six years. 
My thoughts
What exactly is difficult about it? The IC's charging a fair line rate. The doctors use a lot of macros to save time and because if they're like most doctors, they hate dictating, and they get to see more patients so get to charge the insurance companies more plus collect co-pays. I just don't see anything difficult about it. 
My thoughts .....
I think EVERY new driver should have a nice Rambler for their first car, then a Pacer .... it'll make 'em appreciate anything more LOLOLOL
my thoughts
your m-i-law's 'not telling you the whole story' in my book is akin to lying -- at the very least, deceit. Maybe it wasn't her place to tell you, but she could have insisted her son did (or else she would). For her to keep in touch with this other woman is inappropriate in my book, unless she is scheming to put her back in the picture. Of course you have the right to feel angry and betrayed. You always have the right to feel what you feel. i'd be sorely inclined to put some geographic distance (a lot of it) between you/hubby and her. i'd be civil, but never feel i could trust her under these circumstances.
I'm so sorry. Here are my thoughts.
I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. I can't say I know how you feel because my parents are still alive but I can say I'm so sorry. I think a death of a parent is something you NEVER get over, you just learn to live with it. I think if you feel the need to cry every day, then cry every day. But also, try to think about the good things....the things you learned from him...the things you did together. I bet your dad would not want you to feel this down over his death. He would want you to remember the happy times and focus on the future. Take each day at a time. You are only six months into the griefing process so I would think it is completely normal to shed a tear over your beloved father. He sounded like a great dad and he thought the world of you. Hang in there. You're going to make it through this.
My thoughts
Well, being a country music lover, I liked last nights show. However, besides Kelly and Bucky being in their genre, it was definitely an off night.
I LOVE CHRIS! I think he could sing an autopsy report and make it sound beautiful! He definitely rocks and I can see him winning it all!
Kellie was great! Yes, her "dumb act" is a tad annoying but there is no doubt she could be a country star.
I think Ace might be going home tonight, or perhaps that is wishful thinking. He just annoys the crap out of me.
I must laugh at the one poster below that mentions Kenny Rogers. I must say he looks pretty darn good. Actually, I think he looks younger than he did 20 years ago.
can't wait until tonight. My prediction is that Ace is going home.
my thoughts on it
Homosexuals as well as other "minorites" have been treated as second class citizens for so long now. Let them be proud of it! Do I think they go a bit far sometimes? I sure do! But I don't have a problem with it. If a same sex couple wants to hold hands on the street then let them. We don't need to stare in disgust and shield our eyes. They are just trying to have the same freedoms as we have. Discrimination is alive and well even today. I know this because I have gay friends and hear about it all the time. I feel that as long as you are happy and living your own lives then then let them be. I know many "straight" people who are living in dead-end marriages, completely unhappy and not doing a darn thing about it. But their union is so much more sacred? I think it's hogwash. We are all different. Let's celebrate those differences, not put others down because they aren't "fitting the mold" of what's acceptable.
I'm looking forward to Rosie being on The View. I don't think she'll slam her sexual orientation down our throats at all. She has very precise views, yes. And she will talk about them. She's VERY political and I feel that has nothing to do with her orientation. SHe's given and helped raise MILLIONS for children and others who are less fortunate than her. So why is it any time Rosie comes up people automatically make fun of her being gay? Get over it people. SHe's a person just like you and me. jeesh!!!
My thoughts
I did feel that the fact that she had a REAL JOB on top of her Mom job was downplayed. Sigh....as it always is, I guess TV is no different than real life :-(
I would imagine they set up the other Mom and the husband to "work" doing the medical transcriptoin by just giving them really easy stuff and having someone go over it (probably just re-do it) before it went to the doc/hospital. But both the Exec Mom and the husband couldn't handle the MTing so I think that said a lot.
I felt she got respect at the end. Again I watched this months ago so I am trying to remember exactly, but it did stick in my memory that she was valued at the end. Love the show!
thank you. I appreciate your thoughts..sm
and yes, today WAS difficult, when I know my children are hurting inside and there is nothing I can do or say to make it any better. I DID over react to someone's words, and I have apologized, but I did not need to be called a nit wit. I did not deserve to be called anything just because I was trying to be as flip as she was. I became defensive, and that is wrong. I hope she gets her computer problems fixed, but it does not sound hopeful. thank you again for your good wishes. Tomorrow will be better.
Okay then, here are my thoughts
I don't have teens yet but I fully expect that mine will get part time jobs during the Summer if at all possible. As a teen I worked at the local swimming pool and during the school year I babysat every Wednesday evening and sometimes on the weekends.
I was able to save money and when I graduated from HS I was able to buy myself an inexpensive car. I also bought a lot of my own clothes during high school. MOST of my friends were in the pool swimming during the Summer while I was working the front desk......but believe me I had plenty of time for fun. Had I had all the extra time on my hands that they had I might have got into the same kinds of trouble they did. Seems drugs fall into the hands of kids who have a lot of spare time. I have never even tried drugs.
I was 15 when I started working. Ahhh, so long ago. 40 now. LOL. Since I worked during the Summer it didn't interfere with school. During the Wednesday night babysitting I was able to work on any homework I had. It didn't interfere with school at all. Honor student in fact.
Now, as far as the divorced parents thing. Sorry for upsetting you. I just didn't see the point of putting that in the post since it is a total non-issue because that stuff happens with kids who have 2 parents as well as 4 -- which is why I mentioned it.
I think you are doing the right thing with your daughter. She will appreciate you for it later :-)
What are your thoughts on
My 15 YO daughter has a part-time job...she works 2 days a week at a local fast food restaurant. Her best friend, on the other hand, doesn't work. Her mom thinks she shouldn't work until she gets out of high school. I say, that's up to her, but I think it's to her daughter's disadvantage.
It was my daughter's idea to get a job, we didn't push her into it. She likes going shopping, movies, Starbuck's, and loves having her own money to do it with.
Now, her BF just turned 16 and her parents (she has 4 of them...my daughter only has 2!) bought her a car and set her up with her own checking account to pay for the gas. She has no responsibilities whatsoever, which drives me up the wall!
Oh BTW, she just got her license YESTERDAY...and last night, she was driving around to Wal-Mart, Target, Starbuck's...ALONE...with her 10 YO brother in the car with her...and we live in a small, but very busy part of town...you know, one main road that leads to everything! Is it just me or is this crazy?
Opinions please, as I know y'all have 'em!
my thoughts
I know where you are coming from. I got a shower invite not long ago from the same type of person. Initially, I thought "forget it" but then I realized it was a great chance to see other family members that I do care about. I took a nice gift and card to her - no thank-you note from her which didn't surprise me. But I did get to see the ppl I wanted. Sort of a trade off. I understand your feelings and its entirely up to you. I am learning to live my life doing things I want to do, prefer to do, not SHOULD do!
My thoughts.. SM
I had no formal training. I lost my job and my future mother-in-law was an MT with her own business. I asked her to train me and she did. For three years I drove over 50 miles one way 3-4 times a week to work in her office. I feel it was better training that I could have ever gotten from any school.
My MIL has told me she had many people try doing transcription without experience and I was the only one who worked out. She even had people with training who didn’t do as well as me. I believe it truly depends on the person and you should know right away if she will work out or not. You have to have an ear for it and that can’t be trained. You have to have good English skills and you have to be willing to work very hard.
It is possible. It will take a lot of work on both your parts. My MIL knew from the beginning that I would work out compared to what she had seen before. You should know this too and be prepared to cut your losses if you feel she isn’t the right person for this field.
Thanks for your thoughts! nm
x
My thoughts with you..
I have a Dachshund that had a back injury back in March of this year with a herniated disk. They removed it and told us she would probably not walk again (20% chance), but with lots of physical therapy and TLC, she is up and about again. I would absolutely be soooo upset if I lost either one of my dogs...they are like my children, except without all of the back-talk. I wish you well.
My thoughts - again
If you get your own accounts the charge is usually less than that of a large nationals or even semi-large nationals and that is why they will lean towards you. You don;t have the overhead of a large national and can charge less and still make great money. Also they sometimes like having only one person handle the account. You learn that account, make your shortcuts and you can really produce the lines. Since I don't have the overhead of an outside office, employee benefits, etc. I do pass those savings onto the doctors and I still make a great living. (Hitting over 5K this month and that is just me not my IC's) And yes it is possible as in the past two months I picked up two accounts and just heard about one yesterday and these are tapes with pick up and delivery but the pay is very good and I will take them. As for taxes, all the nationals do is to hold out your money for you to pay your taxes (with the exception of your 7.5 SS) and you just have to plan for that and budget and be strignent about putting the money aside. With all of the write-offs I have so much more usable income with by husiness and being an IC than being an employee. It is not MORE EXPENSIVE. You are just in charge of holding out your taxes. Go for it but I do not think you should go into it thinking you will get the 18 to 20 cpl that nationals charge. But that is me.
Patti
My thoughts
Depends is it all digital, will you be picking up and delivering, printing or what. If it is all digital and you don't have to print or deliver I would go probably 12.5 to 13. Once you get the doctors down and you macros, templates, auto correct or whatever shortcuts you use, it will be good money. Also is it gross or cpl, character line. I pick up and deliver, print, and start my accounts out at 12.5 but this is Portland and I count gross lines. Just don't tie into a written contract that prices cannot be negotiated or raised within a certain amount of time. It will take you a while but bet even at 12.5 to 13 you will be up to $40 to $50 an hour fast. So I think you are in the ballpark. Don't want to go too high but not too low. So if you can get a lot of shortcuts and once you get used to them you should be able to do 300 to 400 lines per hour which is good money. Good luck.
My thoughts exactly. Don't want the IRS to ever
have reason to question my returns!
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